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Abstract:
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Summary of work conducted and results:
I will share how I'm advancing the practice of collaborative community planning at San Jose State University. Using interactive media and methods from emerging research in cognitive science, sustainable planning, green business incubation, ecological restoration and more, our CommUniverCity program blends several disciplines into an empowering public service campaign that links learning with civic life. Students engage directly in growing social capital - the deep empathy that brings democratic ideals to life through creative interactions with local folks across the economic spectrum. Class members continue working with local teens beyond class time and thje school term, inventive their own adaptations of methods mastered, and passing on new knowledge to the next generation by involving high school students in meaningful, fun, productive planning.
Importance:
The creation of green cities will take sustained collaboration between diverse groups working with integrity that grows social capital. Deep emotional bonds between people and places are essential for sustainability, as endless examples of boom and bust demonstrate. An absence of resilient relationships opens a moral vacuum, which gives way to social ills. Crime rises where social capital isn't consciously cultivated. To the degree that people are cut off from sustaining their own community's vitality, contextual voids invite exploitation by absentee landlords, inert public agencies, derelict businesses, aimless youth and the whole syndrome of modern problems that spring from rootlessness. Innovations being advanced at San Jose State's CommUniverCity program, in collaboration with the City of San Jose's redevelopment agency, Valley Transportation Authority and diverse community organizations are designed to grow social capital as an essential element of sustainable development.
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